Detail. Click to enlarge.

TRIPTYCH

Wall, triptych

Wall I: 52”h x 24”w x 3”d

Breach: 52”h x14”w x 3”d

Wall II: 52”h x 24” x 3”d

Mixed media

This is a piece borne of outrage, disgust, and panic because “securing”a border should not mean closing our minds and our doors. 

I may have once entertained the opinion that walls were acceptable: maybe even advisable. Today I see them as symbols of failure, futility, and inaction. The finger in the dike is not a solution; it’s only a pathetic stab at a stopgap.  

After all, did walls stop the looting of artifacts at the National Museum of Iraq in 2003? Can walls keep invaders out when enemies tunnel under or fly over? Does pouring vats of boiling oil over the battlements still constitute a defense? Why build the battlements at all?

And now, “The Wall” represents a hijacking of American values and ideals… while at the same time… a rallying cry for the most craven among us. 

America once closed its doors to those fleeing the Nazis. We’re closing them again to the plight of refugees from South and Central America. 

What will happen when climate change accelerates and more of the earth becomes uninhabitable? Will we then close our eyes to the devastation and let the “others” drown? 

Can art change the world? What do you think? Something needs to!